Crossing the border with Blue Jays beat reporter Jordan Bastian.

Mmmm deep dish

CHI-TOWN — Back home in the Chicagoland area this week to be on hand for my bro-in-law’s wedding. So, you guys are just going to have to live without Bastian bloggage until the Jays return to Toronto. I’ve already had me some real South Side deep dish pizza and it was glorious.

As for that doubleheader the other day, I doubt Ernie Banks had Cleveland in mind when he famously said “Let’s play two.” Although, if you’re going to watch a double feature, you can’t really ask for much more than those two games. Two really good, quick ballgames.

The pitching was outstanding. That might’ve been one of the best, if not the best, outing of Shaun Marcum’s young career. To outduel Cliff Lee the way Marcum did was really fun to watch. And I got to witness only the 14th unassisted triple play in baseball history, which was pretty sweet in its own right.

So, for those of you who were wondering how I was hanging in there that night, I was doing just dandy. Now, if it were a Jays/Yanks doubleheader where it might’ve been 8-9 hours of baseball, it might’ve been a different story. The best part was flying to Toronto early Tuesday morning, hopping in the car and driving 8 hours to Chicago and arriving Tuesday night.

In Jays’ land, looks like David Purcey will be called up for Friday’s start in Philly. No word yet on who will be sent down to clear room. And who would’ve thunk the Rays would be in first place in the American League East on May 14? It’s a crazy world we’re living in.

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27 Comments

Great decision by The Jays to have Purcey go Friday. The situation came about because of the double header and Burnett was scheduled to go Saturday which would have been on 3 days rest.

Starting Purcey on Friday instead of Saturday, means McGowan goes Saturday, with 1 extra day of rest, Burnett goes on regular rest on Sunday and Marcum, Litsch and Halliday all get an aditional day of much needed rest.

You are an absolute pure IDIOT masquerading as someone who pretends to know alot about baseball. The truth is I will say it again you are nothing but an idiot!!!! 4 games out of a playoff spot and you are building the team ( future ) around Dave Purcey and Adam Lind. Ive never in all my years of following sports heard such garbage as you have been preaching the last couple of days. TRADE Roy Halliday, Vernon Wells, B.J. Ryan……. This is a core all now in their prime who will be massively productive for the next 4 to 5 years that few IF ANY teams in baseball can come close to matching. Wells is a perennial gold glover, B.J. a shut down guy, and DOC will be great well into his 40’s ( ala Greg Maddux). Halliday legitametly the best pitcher in MLB since Clemens came into the league. YA lets trade these guys for a bunch of Adam Linds’ and Dave Purceys’, perhaps someone will throw in a couple of Sergio Santos’ while their at it. The more I read this site lately the more I realize what a moron you are Gsumner, wasting all your time talking to garryguy who is nothing more than a HICK DONKEY says alot about your intelligence level. If you need someone to stroke your ego that badly then youve got a good friend in your buddy garryguy who idolizes you. The problem is he knows less than you about baseball. You 2 should move to the same town and go fishing together…………….. TRADE OUR BEST PLAYERS FOR A BAG OF BEANS GSUMNER!!!!!

I rarely post but I do read everything . The blog is here to share opinions and ideas. You don’t have to agree with each other but the name calling is childish . I am sure we all left kindergarden a long time ago so maybe we can act a little more adult here . I want to thank those of you who do constructively contribute , I enjoy reading your blogs

Something else to talk about I read this morning.
Rosenthal from Fox sports had an article about the Rockies possible wanting to trade Holliday this year(http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8143654/Rockies-could-be-in-market-to-trade-Holliday). Obviously its just speculation but he mentioned Toronto as a possible suitor. It would probably take 3 or 4 quality prospects to land him, but if Toronto is in the buisness of winning now it could be a great move. Toronto’s strength is obviously pitching, and could set up a package of players that would appeal to them. It would be tough but maybe part with McGowan, and a few minor league guys like Brett Cecil, Arencibia, Romero, and Tolisano could all be included. It would definatly hurt the system but it wouldnt kill it. I think it would be a great idea, what does everyone else think?

When I first saw the Holliday possibility I thought why would you give up top prospects and plenty of them for a player you only have for 2 years guaranteed??? Then I thought that 2 years of having a MVP calliber player is pretty good considering we have a very good prospect in Snider coming up in the next couple years and Hollidays salary is way below what his talent level is. If Snider is included in the deal then you would have to sign Holliday long term to justify it, if he would even be willing to sign long term in Toronto.

Me either freedom . Purcey needs to throw strikes , let them hit and let the Jays defence back him up . His lack of control or fear the players are going to hit the ball , allows for too many walks and they always come back to haunt you . Major league is a different game from triple A , look at the struggles the Yank’s Hughes and Kennedy are going through .

Does it make any sense to put Litche in at this time? Since we are probably going to lose anyway, I wouldve probably left Purcey in. Even if he gives up a couple more runs, it’s all about trial and error. That’s how these young pitchers learn and mature in the majors.

I don’t mean to bash Reed Johnson because I happen to like the way the guy plays, however I would like to point out that the Chicago Cubs have just signed Jim Edmonds to split time with him. Edmonds is hitting below the mendoza line so that tells you what Chicago thinks of the guy whom everybody loves. The fact is signing Stewart at the time was the right move to make for a starved offensive team. Stewart over the course of his career has proven to be a better hitter against righties then Reed. I’ve never understood people who suggest that Reed is a sparkplug to the offense. If that were the case the Cubs would have him play everyday. It’s funny how I haven’t read much about him from you guys since his struggles started happening.

Reed Johnson was a good lead off man with a high on base percentage, something the Jays don’t have now . I like Johnson, I do think he provided some of the energy to help motivate this team . As for his struggles , he is like the whole jays team that is struggling or every other player who has down times. I read he is more than happy to platoon and has no problem with sharing centre field with Edmonds , Johnson is use to platooning. He wasn’t given the chance to play here because Riccardi was concerned about last years back surgery. As for Stewart , I questioned the signing because he has had numerous injuries and his numbers weren’t all that different than Johnsons but I have always liked Stewart . If you check their stats now Johnson’s ERA is .258 , 1 HR and 17 RBI Stewart’s ERA .238 , 0 HR and 8 RBI but there is a lot more to a player than stats. I still wish Johnson was on the jays team

Indigo, you do make a great point however, to compare stats now is being unfair. No one can predict how a player will be in the future, the best a g.m can do is go by track record. Stewart was coming off a better offensive year then Reed so how can anyone criticize J.P. for going with the guy with the better career offensive numbers when this teams biggest need is clearly offense. I don’t mind that you guys like Reed better then Stewart. I do too, but I can’t sit here and say that J.p. made a bad decision when at the time I understood why it was done. If this team was hitting well overall I would love to still have Reed platooning with Stairs. It is coming around lately for them though, which has got me really excited.

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